Restore Voting Rights to Citizens with Past Criminal Convictions

The Brennan Center’s Democracy Agenda outlines a series of concrete proposals that the next President and Congress should embrace to improve democracy in America.

October 6, 2016

More than 4.7 million Americans cannot vote because of a past criminal conviction — even though they are no longer incarcerated.[1] Law enforcement officials have judged these individuals as ready to rejoin their families and neighbors, yet they have no say in the communities in which they work and live. Strict and outdated state laws, some created as part of the Jim Crow system of keeping minority voters from the polls, are to blame.[2] In some states, voting bans last a lifetime, and can only be reversed by individual government determinations.[3] In Florida, one in three African-American men is essentially disenfranchised for life.[4]

These laws diminish our democracy. They also hurt public safety by making it harder to re-integrate citizens into their community, which makes them more vulnerable to recidivate. Criminal justice reform advocates, including leaders of both parties, acknowledge that too many people are imprisoned for too long, and re-entry into society is unnecessarily difficult. Removing voting rights contributes to this problem and signals America is unwilling to give people a second chance.

Proposal

The Democracy Restoration Act, now before Congress, would allow citizens to vote in federal elections immediately upon release from prison or while serving a sentence in the community.[5] It would create a simple and fair rule: If you are living in the community, you get to vote.

Similarly, a number of states have active proposals to restore voting rights for those with past criminal convictions. In 2015, Wyoming passed reform, and measures in Maryland, Kentucky, and Minnesota came close.

Why This Can Be Achieved

There is sustained, long-term momentum to reform laws that disenfranchise people with criminal convictions. In the past two decades, 20 states have rolled back their restrictions and made it easier for returning citizens to vote, and three states have reversed their lifetime disenfranchisement laws.[6]

These efforts have been buoyed by an increasingly broad coalition of supporters from both sides of the aisle. That coalition includes law enforcement professionals, faith leaders, advocates, and elected officials. It includes current and former Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Rick Santorum, Orrin Hatch, and Rand Paul, along with former President George W. Bush.[7] It includes Koch Industries, which consistently supports right-wing causes, and faith leaders like the late Chuck Colson, a former special counsel to President Nixon.[8]

This issue has also been championed by criminal justice reformers, who recognize voting rights restoration as a smart-on-crime policy that both expands democracy and serves public safety. A Florida government study, for example, found that people who lost the right to vote were three times more likely to return to prison than formerly incarcerated persons who could vote.[9] Another study found “consistent differences between voters and non-voters in rates of subsequent arrests, incarceration, and self-reported criminal behavior.”[10] Law enforcement professionals increasingly recognize that disenfranchisement does nothing to help the re-entry process.[11]

Americans also support rights restoration. A February 2014 poll found that 65 percent of likely voters believed that those with felony convictions should regain the right to vote after serving their sentence.[12]

Resources

Restoring the Right to Vote: The Brennan Center’s proposal for restoring the right to vote for citizens with past criminal convictions.

My First Vote: Testimonials from people who regained their voting rights after being disenfranchised because of past criminal convictions.

De Facto Disenfranchisement: Study on how complex laws, poorly informed officials, and misinformation lead to the denial of the right to vote for citizens with past criminal convictions but who are actually eligible to vote.